Native
American

Herbs & Plants

Of The Southwest

Strawberries

Yum, yum! We Americans love our strawberries- jam, shortcake,
cheesecake, pies, ice cream, even jello, or just eaten straight. Did you know
that strawberries are a wild plant native in the Americas? You did? Well, how
many of you know that the big fat luscious strawberries that we eat today are
the result of a chance mating between the North American variety and the South
American variety back in the 1700’s?

Long before the time of Columbus, the Indians of Chile grew a
strawberry better than any in Europe, with fruits the size of a walnut. The
original North American variety was small but full of intense flavor. When these
two varieties were planted in European gardens, chance cross pollination took
place, producing the ancestors of our modern varieties. (Proving love will find
a way!) Modern breeding and hybridization has done the rest.

Today, the easy-to grow strawberry is found in many home
gardens, and it is one of the few crops that can turn a profit for the part time
“truck farmer”. The only real problem is keeping the birds away- they like
strawberries as much as we do!